In an article called, Eclipse of God: Studies in the Relation between Religion and Philosophy, Martin Buber says, "Faith in the reality of God is increased more by experiencing God than explaining God." Hopefully what I have to say will help to you to learn to experience God. Recently I had a study group with some friends. One person really brought the Spirit into the meeting. She shared many insights and thoughts from her own personal study of the scriptures. Towards the end of the meeting, another friend said that she hasn't felt the Spirit in her reading of the scriptures like this for over a month and asked the first friend how she was able to find so many personal insights from the scriptures. The first friend humbly stated that she had started reading her scriptures first thing in the morning after breakfast. She also stated that she had recently varied her approach to something that fit more for her in her life.

I too was amazed by the Spirit she brought to that scripture study. She was explaining things about God, but more importantly, I was experiencing God in that moment. My faith was increased because of her example. We can sometimes get caught in a cycle where we are reading the scriptures without really experiencing God. If this is the case, I suggest switching things around. Cater your scripture study so that it matches more with where you are in life. Pray for inspiration on how to feel the Spirit more in your life. If you feel that you have not had a personal experience with God or you feel like it has been a while, have the faith to reach out to Him. He will answer your prayers and will allow you to feel His love.

In a recent devotional to the students of Brigham Young University President Russell M. Nelson, the prophet for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, said, "My dear young friends, there is always a way back.  Jesus Christ (and His gospel) is the way.  You have not committed any sin so serious that you are beyond the reach of the Savior’s love and atoning grace.  As you take steps to repent and follow God’s laws, you will begin to feel just how much Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son want you back home with Them!"

This quote stood out to me above everything else that was said in the devotional. It was something that I needed to hear. I think that we all have times when we feel that we are not deserving of God's love for us. We feel that we have strayed too far from the path and that we are beyond reach. This is not true. God's love for us is infinite and eternal. I have found that there are daily and almost hourly moments when I am feeling like I am not measuring up. There are ways to counter this feeling.

First take time to feel God's love for yourself. We can do this by praying to Him and asking Him to let us feel His love. We feel His love when we serve others. Taking time each day to help those around you will bring you closer to God. Focus on those who are close to you like your family, friends, and roommates. Second, after you have taken time to feel God's love, you need constant reminders. This is why we attend church each week, read our scriptures daily, and pray often.

There will always be times when we feel unworthy of God's love. However, I know that God does love us more than we can comprehend. There is nothing that we can do to cause God not to love us. If we continue to take the time and effort to feel God's love in our life, He will always show His love for us.

The Last Days

The last days has been something that has been on my mind a lot lately. I have had discussions with my family and friends. A lot of the reason why it has been on my mind came from a talk by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. Christians look forward to the last days. We are taught that when Christ comes there will be a millennium of peace. Oppression, injustice, poverty, and suffering will all vanish. The second coming is a day that will bring tremendous joy to the children of God.

There are many prophecies that can cause us to fear the last days. The scriptures say that in the last days there will be "Men's hearts failing them for fear... for the powers of heaven shall be shaken." However, I do not think that we need to fear the last days. The former Anglican Bishop of Durham, Dr. N. T. Wright said, "It is not ultimately a chaos; that when we do justice in the present we are not whistling in the dark, trying to shore up a building that will ultimately collapse, or to fix a car which is actually bound for the scrap-heap."

The last days will be full of many great and terrible events. However, we are on the winning side of the battle. The Second Coming is near and we need to prepare for it. Every bit of good that we do to help alleviate the poverty and suffering in the world is part of the winning battle. Instead of feeling like the world is collapsing, we need to understand that, in many aspects, the world is doing better than it has ever been. People are living longer and happier lives with less oppression and more equality than ever before. There is still much to do, but I feel optimistic about where we are and I know that we are nearing a thousand years of peace.

Faith to Succeed

One of the most famous scriptures for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints comes from the very beginning of The Book of Mormon. A prophet named Lehi is asked to send his sons on a seemingly impossible task of retrieving a record from a very rich man that does not want to give up the record. When Lehi asks his sons to do this, some of them complain but Nephi says, “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them to accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” (1 Nephi 3:7) After several failed attempts, the brothers are ready to quit and go home but Nephi still presses forward. Eventually God prepared a way for them to succeed and they were able to accomplish the impossible task.

To me this is a perfect example of faith. One of the most important parts of faith is that we cannot just have the faith to try but we must have the faith to succeed. God will never ask anything of us that we are not capable of doing. Lehi and Nephi are amazing examples of the this kind of faith. As Lehi’s wife is waiting for her sons to return Lehi comforts her by saying, “But behold, I have obtained a land of promise.” (1 Nephi 5:5) This was before he had acutually reached the land of promise. However, he had so much faith in God that he knew that he would gain that land of promise.

Nephi and Lehi not only had the faith to try to accomplish the difficult tasks that were laid in front of them, they had faith to the point that they knew that God would make it possible. In my life, I am easily disheartened by the failure that I have in keeping the commandments. I need to look to the examples of Nephi and Lehi and realize that it is ok to fail and as long as I have faith and keep trying I will succeed. I hope that we can all develop this level of faith and trust in God.